


Rewind and try again

by SrebrnaFH



Series: Double Pride Double Trouble - series [3]
Category: Das doppelte Lottchen | Lottie and Lisa - Erich Kästner, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: One Shot, One Year Later, Summer Camp, The Parent Trap AU, Twins, sequels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24663496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SrebrnaFH/pseuds/SrebrnaFH
Summary: Mina and Rose, one year after the fateful camp.Sequel to my Double Pride Double Trouble story so... will make sense ONLY when read after that.
Series: Double Pride Double Trouble - series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1273559
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Rewind and try again

**Author's Note:**

> I promised some more stories, so here's another single. Next summer vacation after the camp they met on :)
> 
> Definitely will make no sense if you didn't read the main story (first in this series).

"Elizabeth?"

His wife was scowling at the screen as if it had personally offended her.

"Lizzy...?"

She looked up finally, nose still scrunched in disgust at whatever it was she was working on.

"Have we at any point discussed the girls' summer? I wouldn't wish them to hang around the building site, and they won't be that much help with anything at the mansion, so... Was there anything in particular they could potentially wish to do?"

She shrugged and pushed the laptop away.

"Not really. Mina is still grumbling about Teddy blowing himself up if he signs up for a repeat from last year and Rose is in the middle of preparation for that competition she found—"

"Which will be over before Georgie's wedding. And Mina definitely needs a distraction, because if she keeps sulking like this, she will spoil Teddy's summer and Richard's too. Considering Richard is doing all the wedding planning remotely in order to ensure he is there for the summer Cadets' camp, I'd rather not have her grumbling to _him_."

"Definitely," Elizabeth sighed. "She has this overprotective streak, even though Teddy is most certainly able to take care of himself... What about just sending them again to the same place? They did have fun last time, and at least this year they will not be focusing on learning how to play each other for two months."

"They wouldn't be bringing any additional sisters back this time."

"Hopefully."

"Well, I think we have all the children that we can handle right here. Hm?"

"Well—" she trailed off. "Probably, yes."

He moved to sit next to her, hands trailing the slightly rounded shape of her belly.

"And how is little Alex behaving today?"

She smiled and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

"Being an annoying little bubble. I can't focus on _anything_. This kid is going to be sportsy."

####

The busses stopped in most bigger towns as they slowly crawled down from the north to the campsite, somewhere so far west in Herefordshire it was almost Wales.

Yes, they had done that before.

Right on the same route, probably even the same busses - the same meeting spot in Lambton, the same council officer taking the roll call (and the same as welcomed Mina-as-Rose when she came "back" in September).

"I slept most of the way there last year."

"Dad said you were asleep before the busses left the parking lot."

"Mom said you were too shaky to sleep."

"Yeah," Mina admitted without shame. "I was so jittery it was a miracle I survived the drive from London..."

There was a bus right now pulling up in front of them and the small group of girls quickly lined up at the entrance.

"Camp Hill? I have a list here," the councilwoman offered to the lady in the bus. "Six girls - Darcy, Darcy, Fink, Marlin, Mayhew, Strike."

"Check, all six. Put your cases with the rest of the luggage, girls, and get inside. I'd rather have us on our way, without AC it's unbearable here."

The bus was a little stuffy, yes, but mostly it was full of girls, their straw hats, their butterfly nets ("Who would want to catch a butterfly?" Mina scoffed), handbags, smaller and bigger backpacks, sports equipment and jackets. There were two seats free across the aisle from each other, so while Rose dealt with a safe way to store her guitar, Mina quickly laid claim to them, scaring away any potential takers.

"Did you find a place to put it?"

"Yeah, it's good, the case will keep it safe and I strapped it in to the rail, just in case..."

"Mina? Rose?"

_Oh._

"Joana!"

There was a dose of nervousness in how they turned to the taller girl. They had spoken with her during the school year, but they hadn't really felt up to the challenge of explaining in detail how much their lives had changed since they had separated at the end of the last camp.

"You..." she narrowed her eyes in a mock scowl. "Oh, you two! I _knew_ it! Nobody is _that_ similar without something seriously hinky going on!"

"Well..." Rose grinned. "Yeah? Kind of? We weren't, like, perfectly sure last year—"

"—but yes, we are twins," Mina interrupted her. "Actual, real twins. Anything new with you since our last call?"

"Nah," Joana shrugged carelessly and caught Rose's hand, dragging them further in. "Come on, there are three seats free at the back. Me? Well, Dad is working from home a lot, still. Mom comes by from time to time, tries to take me shopping or whatever. But her boyfriend is annoying and kind of stuck up, so I try not to hang out with them too much. Not sure why she chose him over Dad... Anyway. I'm getting on better with some of my cousins, because suddenly all of my aunts decided that I needed to be 'properly taken care of' and I've been spending every other weekend with one part of the family or another. Which means I've had more contact with them in the last eight months than I've had for all my life before that!"

"Tell me about it!" Rose nodded, sitting down as the bus started. "I've never _known_ I had so much family, before Mum's side showed up. We have... Mina, how many cousins?"

"Nine—" her sister paused, counting silently. "Unless you add 'the little octopus' of Aunt Kitty's. Then ten."

"I'm pretty sure little ones don't count until you properly meet them."

"Then Alex doesn't count either."

"Alex counts no matter what."

"Then the most squirmy kid in London should count, too."

Joana raised a hand, silencing them.

"What the hell are you two blathering about?"

"Our Aunt Kitty is pregnant and she says that by the number of kicks and movement she just might be carrying an octopus."

"And Mum is pregnant, too, but they can't tell the sex yet, so everyone keeps calling the baby 'Alex', since it fits both girls and boys."

"And Mum says she anyway doesn't want to know, so she's making everything in green and orange."

"Making all the seniors in the family cry outrage, since the want to properly prepare for the 'new arrival'. As if it made any difference for the baby what she or he throws up on."

"Mum doesn't want Alex to be an overly pink princess or an overly macho boy, and that is what some of these fossils are thinking about. Aunt Mathilda can't stop musing aloud whether 'he' will be a good landowner or a brave soldier. As if they hadn't been on Uncle Richard's case every time something happens at his unit. Why would they wish the same on Mum and Dad?"

"She wants to share the misery," Rose groaned. "It's like, if she can make someone else as stressed for their baby boy, she will be less afraid about Uncle Rick. Or whatever."

"Are they actually discussing this kind of stuff when your Mom is still, like, pregnant? Who does this kind of crap?

"Older generation," Mina sighed. "Half of them is horrified with Dad marrying Mum and the other half immediately started campaigning for him to 'be more active in the community'."

"They want him to run for a seat in parliament," Rose explained with disgust. "Because according to them it would be the best moment, now that he has his new wife to run the social side of the election. He could, you know, _nobly represent the best Derbyshire has to offer_."

"Mind you, it wasn't just that one suggestion. Every other weekend someone 'just pops by' with a new proposal about some money he could invest or some initiative he could lead, or maybe, you know, reconsider that candidacy... Apparently when you make enough money _and_ stabilise your family life, new career paths open for you."

Joana shook her head in amazement.

"And your Dad? What did he say?"

Rose snorted.

"Told them to get lost. And that the last thing he wanted to do now was to put his pregnant wife through the stress of dealing with the election, and especially the bottom-feeders from the press."

"That Daily Mail guy was actually displeased when he heard that. Tried to pretend he was at the same time outraged by Dad's insults towards the press, curious about Dad's next plans — up to and including waiting for us in front of the school — while he was, all that time, harassing Dad's employees for dirt. Wonder why Daily Mail still hires him."

"It's Daily Mail, what are you expecting?"

"Are they even allowed to talk to kids?" Joana grimaced.

"No, not at all. Among other things we did recently was helping with the school paper. We've learnt that there was something called the journalists' code of conduct. Nobody is supposed to bother kids without asking parents for permission, even if they are kids of public persons— like a candidate for MP. But Dad never even started to say he would be running— And that man had been watching us and at least once tried asking Mina for something."

"He disappeared before we could point him out to anyone, but luckily they got him detained for bothering one of Dad's company secretaries, that same day. She got so scared when he accosted her - on her porch! - that she fell down from the steps and twisted her ankle."

"The cretin had introduced himself by that moment, so she told the ambulance crew about him—"

"And they informed the police, as they thought he could have been a sex offender—"

"—now he is in the county temporary holding for the last month, and charges include exhibitionism—"

"—endangering life and health—"

"—unlawful recording—"

"—and mail theft, because he lifted the credit card statement of that lady, probably to discover some nefarious dealings."

"Got her bill for Netflix and the bra she ordered online."

Joanna snorted into her water bottle.

"Your life is crazier than anything since last summer," she pronounced. "Journalists, Parliament candidacy (or not), new baby, family mess - seems like you had a busy year."

"And aunt Georgie got married — that's our Dad's sister. And our Uncle Richard is getting married in August, just after we come back, so we're just surrounded with wedding stuff. Ah, and Mina got a bouff—"

"Aaaaaanyway, what are your plans for the camp?" Mina asked quickly, keeping her hand firmly over Rose's mouth.

"I got a pair of rollerblades for my birthday, so I'll be practicing these," Joanna explained, squinting at them suspiciously, "And I want to catch up with some stuff I had no time to watch during the school year. That said, we still have like two hours driving left, so..." she pulled out her tablet. "Anyone up for a movie?"

They squished themselves closer and peered at her screen.

"Wonder Woman?"

Twins nodded quickly.

####

"I think Diana would have kicked Carol's ass," Joana stated decisively. "She has that whip—"

"No way. Vers can shoot photon blasts from her hands. She would have beat Diana in five seconds flat—"

"Heathen."

"Ladies! Attention please!"

One of the aides was trying to read the list aloud with an expression of someone who needed a break - or a holiday. Considering it was the fifth of July, it said a lot about her level of exhaustion.

"Fourt— Someone must be kidding me," the woman moaned - right into the megaphone, sending half of the camp into giggles. "OK, let's say I take it as it is. Next cabin - Darcy, Darcy, Bennet and Bennet."

Mina frowned.

"Well, Darcy and Darcy is us," Rose said decisively. "But why would Mina's old name..."

"Bennet and Bennet, here!"

Jackie's clear voice carried over the general din of the crowd.

And behind her, straight from the bus from London, hands tight on the handle of her suitcase, was Adele.

"DO I even want to know?" the counsellor looked as if she was on the verge of crying.

Mina glanced at Rose.

Rose glanced at Mina.

They both shook heads.

"Nah," Mina said finally. "We'll deal with that. What was the cabin number again?"

"Fourteen," she handed them the keys and checked them off her list with a flourish. "Now, who do we have next? James, Parker, Evers, Mc Kendrik! Cabin fifteen! Come on, has someone seen Susan Evers...!"

Mina jumped down from the small wall and pushed herself through the crowds to where Jackie was standing in front of a small heap of luggage.

"Surprise?" Jackie smiled widely. "Mum told me not to mention this to anyone _and_ she told the same to Adele. We only learnt yesterday that we were going to the same camp—"

"And we got a text 'look for Mina and Rose' like, ten minutes ago," Adele added. "I have a feeling aunt Jane is getting overly secretive and sneaky."

Twins looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Come on, cabin fourteen," Rose pointed. "This way."

"Will you show us that cabin you were stuck in as punishment?" Jackie asked, jerking her bag up and trailing after them. "Where is the mess hall? What do the bathrooms look like...?"

"Eight weeks of that," Rose grunted softly to Mina.

"We _did_ consider helping aunt Jane as babysitters for the summer..."

"Let's treat this as a demo version."

"Are you two done insulting us?"

"Nah, we are just starting!"

The camp was waking up and filling with girls all around them. It would be a _good_ summer.


End file.
